ROMANCE FOR ADVENTURING SOULS

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Thursday, September 17, 2015

Amy's End of Summer Book Review

Part IV

A Study in Silks

by Emma Jane Holloway

Steampunk, mystery and Sherlock Holmes? Sign me up!

As a lover of the steampunk genre I sometimes become disillusioned by all the stories that simply focus on the science and not the characters. Holloway's A Study in Silks was a pleasant surprise for me when I found myself instantly liking Evelina Cooper and the mysteriously roguish Tobias Roth. Of course, the fact that Evelina is the niece of the illustrious Sherlock Holmes, and the fact that she grew up in a traveling circus only made her more interesting. Holloway's world building, bringing the reader to London controlled by six steam barons, is immaculate and it could be said that the world itself is a complex and beautiful character on its own. There is secretive tinkering, murder and intrigue to keep the reader on their toes throughout the entire novel. I have said, and will say again, I WILL READ MORE EMMA JANE HOLLOWAY.

Ever since childhood, Emma Jane Holloway refused to accept that history was nothing but facts prisoned behind the closed door of time. Why waste a perfectly good playground coloring within the timelines? Accordingly, her novels are filled with whimsical impossibilities and the occasional eye-blinking impertinence--but always in the service of grand adventure.

Struggling between the practical and the artistic--a family tradition, along with ghosts and a belief in the curative powers of shortbread--Emma Jane has a degree in literature and job in finance. She lives in the Pacific Northwest in a house crammed with books, musical instruments, and half-finished sewing projects. In the meantime, she's published articles, essays, short stories, and enough novels to build a fort for her stuffed hedgehog.